First month back!

"You don't need to get it perfect. You just need to get it going."

​In a rather encouraging first week of December and “return to art”, I submitted these pieces to two juried shows, and was accepted by both! “Zuko” was awarded 5th Place for Traditional Art in Fusion Art’s 8th Annual Animal Kingdom juried show, and “You Again?” was awarded Special Recognition Finalist in Light Space & Time Art’s 13th Annual Nature juried show. Is it maybe the most important thing that ever happened? Possibly. But what excites me even more is that even still, there is more art to create.

All silliness aside, there is controversy regarding the validity of artists paying to have their art judged by a stranger, or the contrived nature of “beating” other paintings. I’ll never forget though, a college art professor, the wise gray-haired type that’s forgotten more than I will every learn. An artist should always keep entering juried shows, he said. It has nothing to do with winning, or shaping what you create. It’s about committing to a deadline so that you actually finish your work.     

Incidentally, I don’t find the categories of juried shows to be constricting, or the arbitrary nature of a stranger’s judgment to be discouraging (yet). I’m inspired to see art better than my own, artists more skilled than myself, and I’m grateful for the chance to reflect on whether my work fell short or lacked impact. Im looking forward for more opportunities to submit to juried shows, so stay tuned for that sort of thing. 
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However, if you are an orb of untainted light that finds competition sullying to art, please instead direct your attention to previews of a few WIPs carrying over into January:

Much of December 2023 here has been spent behind the scenes on ongoing studio and website organization, not to mention the black-hole time-vortex that is ballet performance season, and the ensuing holidays. In January, snow conditions in Alaska are promising for a busy mushing season. My huskies have patiently waited their turn during the last four months of endless rehearsals, so I will owe them a bit of my time—but there is no better company for painting than tired huskies sleeping underfoot! I have planned so far for 2024 over twenty (!) paintings and two illustration projects, so stay tuned for January’s episode of “Eyes Bigger than Your Studio”. They won’t all be started by February, but that will not stop me from planning even more of them in the meantime. (Remember that thing about deadlines?)

My little white shadow. You better believe there are paintings of him in my future.